Horse Racing: Jockey Club orders new precautions

Lydia Hislop

Kempton officials are today breathing a huge sigh of relief after a suspected case of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease at an abattoir in nearby Guildford was dismissed last night. The valuable, two-day Racing Post Chase meeting, starting this afternoon, is not under threat.

A provisional five-mile exclusion zone had been enforced around the Guildford site by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) while the case was being investigated.

But Jockey Club chief medical adviser, Peter Webbon, had warned that such no-go areas for large congregations of people - such as race meetings - could extend to a much larger radius in some cases, depending on wind strength and direction. Kempton and Epsom both lie around 15 miles from Guildford, with Sandown about three miles nearer.

Precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease by external means via humans, horses and vehicles will be introduced at all racecourses from today. Disinfectant pads of straw will be placed at the horsebox entrances to all tracks in order to cleanse tyres and racing vehicles may even be sprayed on arrival and departure.

"The only risk racing poses to the spread of the disease is through people, horses and vehicles getting together from far-flung and often rural areas and then dispersing again. It is a minimal risk, but taking these simple precautions is the responsible thing to do," said Webbon.

He stressed that contingency plans to ensure the continuation of racing should some tracks fall within future exclusion zones would not take place with racing's rulers, the British Horseracing Board, until next week when the scale of the problem - whether national or merely regional - would be better known.

The results of a suspected case in Stroud, just 12 miles away from Cheltenham where Europe's most prestigious National Hunt meeting will be staged in just 18 days' time, are expected within the next 36 hours.

Point-to-pointing and hunting could be most affected by this disease outbreak. The hunting community has already called a voluntary seven-day ban on its activities and Webbon has advised Point organisers to alert competitors of the need to disinfect all vehicles. The Easton Harrier meeting at High Easter is the sole abandonment to date, due to its proximity to the Essex exclusion zone.